Market Street, Hollins Cotton Mill and environs, Marple, 1929.

Online Sources

This list was drawn up by Rachel Reader, Supervising Archaeologist, School of Environment and Life Sciences. Rachel gave two lectures at the Navigation Pub in Marple, in March 2017, on the methods used in Desk Base Assessment in Archaeology. The lectures formed part of the Revealing Oldknow’s Legacy Project.

Map Sources:

Old Maps Online - http://www.oldmapsonline.orgThis website allows you to find old maps via one website. All it requires is the area you want to search and it will directly link you to maps held by institutions such as the National Library of Scotland and British Library. You can specify the date of the map as well.

Old Maps - https://www.old-maps.co.uk/#/This website is again searchable by location and holds old Ordnance Survey maps, including Town Plans from the first edition (c.1850 onwards) as well as the Russian Military map. However if you want to print or order any mapping, you have to pay.

Ordnance Survey – http://maps.nls.ukThe most comprehensive archive of Ordnance Survey maps for England and Wales (primarily 6” to 1 mile) is held by the National Library of Scotland. As well as Scottish OS, it also holds Roy’s Military Map from c.1750 which laid the foundations for the Ordnance Survey. It holds more detailed OS mapping for Scotland only, however unlike Old Maps, it has the original sheet tiles.

Cheshire Tithe - http://maps.cheshire.gov.uk/tithemaps/Cheshire is one of few counties to have a fully digitised archive of tithe maps, drawn up in the 1830s and possibly the most detailed mapping before OS. It has the tithe map next to a map selection (so you can directly compare to old OS, aerial and modern mapping). It also lists the owners of the land.

British Geological Survey - http://www.bgs.ac.uk/This website holds open source data and interactive mapping to find the bedrock and superficial (drift) geology for your area of interest, as well as much more.

Manchester Maps – http://manchester.publicprofiler.orgContains a wealth of late 18th to 20th century maps for Manchester, all georeferenced to the modern Manchester. For more detailed mapping such as Banks 1831 and Adshead 1851, these are available via the University of Manchester online collections but only as original sheet scans, not georeferenced.

Documentary Sources:

Ancestry - http://www.ancestry.co.uk/One of the most comprehensive online, family history websites accessible. Ancestry holds census records, military records, information on births, marriages and deaths and much much more. The only downside to the census search is that unless you know the person who lived at an address, you have to browse by district. However this is an easier process on its rival website Find My Past

Find My Past – http://www.findmypast.co.ukThis website holds similar record collections to ancestry although there are slight differences. FMP for example holds prison records for Manchester and their census search can be done by address (although this is not infallible). They also have exclusive access to the 1939 Register, taken at the outbreak of World War II.

Spinning the Web - http://www.spinningtheweb.org.uk/This comprehensive archive consists of information on the story of the cotton industry during the Industrial Revolution in Lancashire. It includes information on the workers, living conditions, the machines and processes that took place within the mills, plus much more.

British History Online - http://www.british-history.ac.uk/This is another comprehensive archive which draws together a variety of resources on British History covering the period 1300-1800. In particular, it holds the Victoria County Histories which are invaluable and comprehensive descriptions of counties, cities, townships and villages.

Other Sources:

Cheshire Archives - http://archives.cheshire.gov.uk/home.aspxThis is the go-to webpage for all archival needs regarding the county of Cheshire and also how to access and research documents not held online within the county archive offices and local libraries. There are individual webpages for Manchester (http://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/448/archives_and_local_history) and Lancashire (http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/libraries-and-archives/archives-and-record-office.aspx)

Cheshire Archaeology Planning Advisory Service - http://www.cheshirearchaeology.org.uk/This holds information on the county body responsible for looking after heritage, particularly during the planning process.

Cheshire Online HER - http://rcplive.cheshire.gov.uk/Most counties across the UK hold a HER and only a few of those are online. This online database allows you to search for information relating to archaeological sites and buildings of interest within Cheshire.

Portable Antiquities Scheme - http://finds.org.uk/This is a national, searchable database where you can find information on artefacts, which have been reported to local FLOs (Finds Liaison Officers) by the general public. From Mesolithic flints, to Iron Age chariot pieces and Civil War musket balls, you can view the finds and see where they have been found. You can also find contact details for your nearest FLO should you have a find to report

Britain from Above – www.britainfromabove.org.ukThousands of aerial photographs taken during the early 20th century, with features including wiki pages and comments you can add

Archive Locator:

Each local authority will normally have information on the location of local archives and hold searchable databases to find any particular document or collection (see links above). However if you are not sure on which area would hold a particular collection, or if there is no searchable database, the Archive Hub and Access to Archives will hopefully allow you to locate the information you need.

Guidance:

Historic England - http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/professional/This website provides access to various resources offered by Historic England. This includes research publications, books, training information, advice on caring for your SAM or listed building (should you have one) and much much more.

Chartered Institute for Archaeologists - www.archaeologists.net/The website for the professional body that represents the archaeology profession. This holds information on the standards and guidance on managing and understanding the historic environment.

Archaeological Data Service - http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/Another invaluable online resource for archaeologists, which holds a comprehensive archive of grey literature reports, archives of past excavations as well as various links to archaeology resources.

BAJR - http://www.bajr.org/Run by David Connolly, this the unofficial official archaeologist’s portal to employment, training and news. There are jobs regularly advertised on here and offers resources written by industry professionals on topics such as how to obtain funding, site surveying and how to survive your first excavation. It has a large directory on various companies, Universities offering archaeology courses and curators.